Peppa Pig

[GeneChing]

China to mark Year of the Pig with Peppa Pig movie as ‘subversive’ cartoon rehabilitated (https://www.hongkongfp.com/2018/12/30/china-mark-year-pig-peppa-pig-movie-subversive-cartoon-rehabilitated/)
30 December 2018 08:00 AFP 2 min read

China is set to mark the Year of the Pig with a film starring “Peppa Pig,” the popular British cartoon character that fell foul of its censors earlier this year.

A government document listing upcoming movie projects shows a new film in the works titled “Peppa Pig celebrates Chinese New Year” to be released in February 2019 during the Lunar New Year holiday.

https://www.hongkongfp.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Peppa_Pig.jpg
Photo: Wikicommons.

The film includes Chinese New Year customs such as a dragon parade and fireworks, state-run China Daily reported.

Co-developed by Alibaba Pictures and Canadian media company Entertainment One — which currently produces Peppa Pig — the film includes the entire “Peppa Pig” cast and two new characters named Dumpling and Glutinous Rice Ball, two popular Chinese new year delicacies.

The series, introduced in the mid-2000s in China, has become extremely popular through episodes dubbed into Mandarin.

This fervour intensified at the end of 2017 among a young adult audience. Many internet users including stars sported temporary “Peppa Pig” tattoos in selfies, and cups, watches and clothes appeared bearing the image of the heroine Peppa.

A Chinese internet platform in May gave “Peppa Pig” the chop as state media lamented the series had become a “subversive” icon for slackers and anti-social young people.

https://www.hongkongfp.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/chrome_2018-05-02_10-36-36.jpg
Peppa the Pig. Photo: Wikicommons.

At least 30,000 clips of the British cartoon were removed from the popular Douyin video-sharing platform, while the #PeppaPig hashtag was banned from the site.

People who upload videos of Peppa Pig tattoos and merchandise and make Peppa-related jokes “run counter to the mainstream value and are usually poorly educated with no stable job,” state-run Global Times said after the ban.

“They are unruly slackers roaming around and the antithesis of the young generation the [Communist] party tries to cultivate.”

I've never watched Peppa Pig. Now I'm thinkin I should, just to get a handle on this. Anyone seen it?

[David Jamieson]

I've never watched Peppa Pig. Now I'm thinkin I should, just to get a handle on this. Anyone seen it?

Yes! It is an awesome and positive show.
Obviously, it's for little kids, but still, it is great to watch. All the littles giggling is a kick. I put it on for my dogs when I go to work and they love it. :D

[GeneChing]

Am I going to have to make a separate thread for Peppa Pig here?


JANUARY 31, 2019 7:15PM PT
‘Peppa’ Goes Viral Ahead of China’s Year of the Pig
By REBECCA DAVIS


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zOUJGYzHQY

With a helping hand from e-commerce giant Alibaba, China has succumbed to Peppa Pig mania. And following a recent agreement with STX, North American audiences will also get a taste of Chinese New Year swine fever.

As the lunar new year approaches – the year of the pig, according to the Chinese zodiac – there’s no way to escape Peppa or her upcoming movie, “Peppa Pig Celebrates Chinese New Year.” Shopping malls, grocery stores and restaurants across China are plastered with her image, despite the happy cartoon character having been banned on social media last year for being too “gangster” and a potential “negative influence.” Now, the pink porker appears to have the blessing of no less than the ruling Communist Party.

“Peppa Pig Celebrates Chinese New Year” comes out in theaters Feb. 5, the first day of the new year holiday period. An official co-production between Entertainment One and Alibaba Pictures, Alibaba’s film investment and distribution arm, it faces stiff competition from 12 other films opening the same day, including two other pig-themed animations: “The Legend of Pig Warrior” and “Boonie Bears: Blast Into the Past.” But Peppa’s prospects look promising, owing to her popularity not just with kindergartners but with ironic Chinese teens who have adopted her as a symbol of self-mockery and rebellion.

The Peppa Pig show was an immediate hit among youngsters when it landed in China in 2015. Two years later, the character became immensely popular with post-’90s kids who identified with the “shehuiren,” or “gangster,” youth subculture but who didn’t have the money to dress the part (think tattoos and gold chains). To poke fun at themselves, they took on innocent Peppa as their emblem, painting on fake Peppa tattoos, wearing toy Peppa watches, and remixing images and videos to make her, say, sport sunglasses, chains and a reefer.

Alarmed at the trend, Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, deleted more than 30,000 videos hashtagged #PeppaPig. The government-aligned Global Times newspaper warned: “The popularity of Peppa Pig in China shows a spirit of innovation, but it could also bring negative influence to the young generation if they overindulge in such a subculture.”

Now, the beloved British toon star has gone viral once again, but this time in a much more state-sanctioned manner.

Earlier this month, the film’s director, Zhang Dapeng, released a five-minute, live-action promo that has brought viewers to tears and worked state media into a tizzy of praise. The adorable short, which both encourages family togetherness and promotes the Peppa movie, is perhaps one of the most successful examples of the localization of foreign content in China in recent memory, and has been viewed more than 200 million times.

“Tell Grandpa what you need [as a new year’s gift] and I’ll prepare it for you,” an old man tells his grandson in a thick provincial accent on his dodgy mobile phone, while standing alone on a desolate hilltop to catch a signal. “Peppa? What’s Peppa?”

The phone signal cuts, sending grandpa on a goose chase to figure out what a “Peppa” is. He tries looking it up in a dictionary, asking his village over the loudspeaker system, and hassling everyone he knows before ultimately fashioning a gift out of a metal fan painted pink to look like Peppa’s face. The short video ends with the message: “On the first day of the new year, don’t accept gifts; instead, go with the whole family into the city to watch Peppa.”

The short has been praised by the Communist Party’s highest anti-graft body, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision, and its official mouthpiece, the People’s Daily. “It was the emotional resonance of this uniquely Chinese feeling [of longing for family reunion] that made this video a hit,” the newspaper said. “As a cultural phenomenon, ‘What is Peppa?’ has brought a good beginning to 2019.”

Thanks to the short’s success, California-based STX Entertainment announced Thursday that it plans to release the “Peppa” film in 32 U.S. markets. It will play in 65 theaters across the U.S. on the same day that it debuts in China, subtitled in English.

“I got a phone call from Alibaba a week and a half ago, shortly after the marketing materials for Peppa in China had gone super-viral… And it was clear to us that the virality was extending far beyond the mainland to Mandarin-speaking U.S. populations,” STXfilms chairman Adam Fogelson told Yahoo Finance. “There certainly could be – not on the Marvel level, of course broad interest. Depending on what happens in the first week or two, anything is possible.”

STX is targeting cities with large Chinese American populations, including Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, with family-friendly matinee and early screenings. Profitability “is likely to be limited,” Fogelson acknowledged, but said the goal of the partnership is to deepen ties with Alibaba. The company is already partnered with Alibaba Pictures on upcoming animated film “Uglydolls” and on “Steel Soldiers,” to be directed by Robert Zemeckis.

Two new Chinese New Year-themed special TV episodes of “Peppa Pig” will also hit the airwaves on Feb. 5, Entertainment One announced Monday. They will be aired by Nickelodeon and free-to-air broadcasters in regions including Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Canada and South Africa, and will play in Mandarin in Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong.


Yes! It is an awesome and positive show.
Obviously, it's for little kids, but still, it is great to watch. All the littles giggling is a kick. I put it on for my dogs when I go to work and they love it. :D
David, I did watch a little Peppa Pig. Honestly, it wasn't working for me and I couldn't make it through a single episode. I guess I'm not as gangster as you. :o

[GeneChing]

I called Wandering Earth (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71046-The-Wandering-Earth&p=1312567#post1312567) for the Spring Festival (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019) winner, not Crazy Alien (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71198-Crazy-Alien). It's now ahead of White Snake (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71053-White-Snake).


FEBRUARY 5, 2019 4:21AM PT
Ning Hao’s ‘Crazy Alien’ Leads $200 Million Day at Chinese Box Office (https://variety.com/2019/film/asia/ning-hao-crazy-alien-heads-200-million-dollar-day-at-chinese-new-year-box-office-1203128600/)
By PATRICK FRATER
Asia Bureau Chief

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/crazy-alien-movie-poster-copy.jpg?crop=2px%2C0px%2C1083px%2C610px&resize=1000%2C563
CREDIT: COURTESY OF DIRTY MONKEY FILMS

“Crazy Alien,” a comedy caper by hit-making director Ning Hao, led the box office in China on the first day of the Chinese New Year holiday period. By 7 p.m. on Tuesday, the film had earned $55 million in mainland Chinese cinemas.

The top eight movies earned a combined $200 million (RMB1.35 billion) by 7:30 p.m., according to data from China Box Office.

“Crazy Alien,” in which two brothers hope to make a fortune from an alien who lands in their lap, is the third film in Ning’s “Crazy” franchise. It follows 2009 black comedy “Crazy Stone” and 2006 title “Crazy Racer.” Once again it stars Xu Zheng and Huang Bo.

The early score, and a 28% market share, is a solid start for the film, which is backed by Huanxi Media, the stock market listed vehicle in which Ning and Xu are major owners. The company announced last year that distributors had provided a minimum guarantee that “Alien” would achieve $415 million (RMB2.8 billion) in China.

“Pegasus,” by celebrity blogger-turned-film director Han Han, was in second place with $42 million (RMB282 million) at 7 p.m., for a 21% market share. “New King of Comedy,” a remake of Stephen Chow’s 1999 title, was third. It had earned $36 million (RMB243 million) for a 19% share of the early evening pie.

“Wandering Earth,” heralded as China’s first genuine sci-fi movie, earned $24.8 million (RMB167 million) in fourth place and a 13% market share. “Boonie Bears: Blast Into the Past,” the sixth film in a Chinese animation franchise, earned $10.9 million on its first official day of release. But with previews, it has already amassed $16.8 million. Its producer, Fantawild has gone on record to forecast a result of more than $100 million.

Jackie Chan-starring family friendly historical adventure, “Knight of Shadows: Between Yin and Yang” was in sixth place on Tuesday with $9.3 million by 7 p.m. It was narrowly ahead of Chinese-British animation “Peppa Pig,” which had raked in $9 million. In eighth place was “Integrity,” stuffed with a cast of Hong Kong veterans, which had earned $7.9 million (RMB53 million).

Cinema attendance could increase on subsequent days, following family get-togethers on the first day of celebrations. The Chinese New Year (also known as Lunar New Year and Spring Festival) holidays run through the whole of the week in mainland China.

[GeneChing]

Bummer. I wasn't even close with my Wandering Earth (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71046-The-Wandering-Earth&p=1312567#post1312567) for the Spring Festival (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019) winner. It's all about Crazy Alien (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71198-Crazy-Alien). I haven't seen any of the Crazy trilogy yet. :o


FEBRUARY 5, 2019 4:21AM PT
Ning Hao’s ‘Crazy Alien’ Leads $200 Million Day at Chinese Box Office (https://variety.com/2019/film/asia/ning-hao-crazy-alien-heads-200-million-dollar-day-at-chinese-new-year-box-office-1203128600/)
By PATRICK FRATER
Asia Bureau Chief

https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/crazy-alien-movie-poster-copy.jpg?crop=2px%2C0px%2C1083px%2C610px&resize=1000%2C563
CREDIT: COURTESY OF DIRTY MONKEY FILMS

“Crazy Alien,” a comedy caper by hit-making director Ning Hao, led the box office in China on the first day of the Chinese New Year holiday period. By 7 p.m. on Tuesday, the film had earned $55 million in mainland Chinese cinemas.

The top eight movies earned a combined $200 million (RMB1.35 billion) by 7:30 p.m., according to data from China Box Office.

“Crazy Alien,” in which two brothers hope to make a fortune from an alien who lands in their lap, is the third film in Ning’s “Crazy” franchise. It follows 2009 black comedy “Crazy Stone” and 2006 title “Crazy Racer.” Once again it stars Xu Zheng and Huang Bo.

The early score, and a 28% market share, is a solid start for the film, which is backed by Huanxi Media, the stock market listed vehicle in which Ning and Xu are major owners. The company announced last year that distributors had provided a minimum guarantee that “Alien” would achieve $415 million (RMB2.8 billion) in China.

“Pegasus,” by celebrity blogger-turned-film director Han Han, was in second place with $42 million (RMB282 million) at 7 p.m., for a 21% market share. “New King of Comedy,” a remake of Stephen Chow’s 1999 title, was third. It had earned $36 million (RMB243 million) for a 19% share of the early evening pie.

“Wandering Earth,” heralded as China’s first genuine sci-fi movie, earned $24.8 million (RMB167 million) in fourth place and a 13% market share. “Boonie Bears: Blast Into the Past,” the sixth film in a Chinese animation franchise, earned $10.9 million on its first official day of release. But with previews, it has already amassed $16.8 million. Its producer, Fantawild has gone on record to forecast a result of more than $100 million.

Jackie Chan-starring family friendly historical adventure, “Knight of Shadows: Between Yin and Yang” was in sixth place on Tuesday with $9.3 million by 7 p.m. It was narrowly ahead of Chinese-British animation “Peppa Pig,” which had raked in $9 million. In eighth place was “Integrity,” stuffed with a cast of Hong Kong veterans, which had earned $7.9 million (RMB53 million).

Cinema attendance could increase on subsequent days, following family get-togethers on the first day of celebrations. The Chinese New Year (also known as Lunar New Year and Spring Festival) holidays run through the whole of the week in mainland China.

[GeneChing]

Why It's The Year Of Peppa Pig In China (https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/02/05/691501906/why-its-the-year-of-peppa-pig-in-china)
February 5, 20196:09 PM ET
Maureen Pao, photographed for NPR, 17 January 2019, in Washington DC.
MAUREEN PAO


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zOUJGYzHQY
YouTube

It's the Year of the Pig — Peppa Pig, that is. The popular porcine British cartoon character is being boosted to new heights — in part thanks to an unusual movie trailer that's become a runaway viral hit in China.

A British import, the Peppa Pig TV show debuted in China in 2015 and follows the exploits of plucky piglet Peppa, Mummy, Daddy and brother George Pig, and her menagerie of friends. Kids have gone crazy for her; her likeness gracing toys, watches, backpacks, temporary tattoos and, eventually, memes that temporarily sullied her reputation in China (more on that later.)

And now, in the Year of the Pig, Peppa is on her way to becoming a full-fledged movie star. Peppa Pig Celebrates Chinese New Year opened in China on Tuesday, the first day of the Lunar New Year.

But for now, people are talking about the promotional trailer more than the film.

Titled "What Is Peppa?" the five-minute live-action trailer tells the story of a grandfather in rural China and his quest to find the perfect gift for his city-dwelling grandson to celebrate Lunar New Year. It's the most important holiday in China, and one that is, above all, about family. For some, it is the only time of year they are able to travel back to their hometown.

https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2019/02/05/gettyimages-1093169572-5e338b17c1c95370c6edd4060a6ed74a52ca97b9-s1700-c85.jpg
People walk past a Peppa Pig pop-up shop in the Yu Yuan gardens, a popular tourist spot in Shanghai.
Matthew Knight/AFP/Getty Images

"What is brilliant about this video is that it changes Peppa into a certain feeling, of bringing people together," says Manya Koetse, an Amsterdam-based Sinologist and editor-in chief of What's on Weibo, a website that reports on social media trends in China. "More than just the pig being the film or a toy or a commodity, it shows the gap between the Chinese urban areas and rural areas."

The trailer opens on a hillside with an elderly man, Li Yubao, talking on his cellphone with his 3-year-old grandson about the upcoming New Year visit. The man's simple clothes immediately signal that he's one of China's more than half-a-billion rural citizens. The grandfather wants to know what the boy wants as a present. He answers, "Pei Qi" — before Li Yubao's outdated phone cuts out when the antenna — yes, antenna — falls off.

Thus Grandfather Li's quest begins: What is Pei Qi? (That's Peppa's name in Chinese.) His devotion to answering this question is at the emotional heart of the trailer.
continued next post

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXscAme1Kok
A father spent hours creating a Peppa Pig out of snow for his young daughter.
YouTube

He looks in the dictionary. He uses the village P.A. system to ask if anyone has a clue. (He repeats the announcement to be sure everyone heard, you know, as grandpas often do.)

In Chinese, Pei Qi sounds similar to other words: Is it a shampoo? A kind of Chinese checkers? No one knows — until, finally, a breakthrough: A neighbor's wife worked as a nanny in Beijing. She'll know.

And she does. She describes the little pink pig to Li, who at first literally tries to paint a live pig. That will not do.

So he makes a gift ... and waits. Awakened by firecrackers on New Year's Day, he gets ready for his family to visit. He wraps dumplings, alone. As others greet their returning relatives, the man sweeps his courtyard, alone. Waiting.

Nonspoiler alert: you'll have to watch it to find out how it ends.

With over 1 billion hits since its Jan. 17 debut on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, the trailer is clearly a hit. But there were some who criticized it for being unrealistic or romanticizing rural life.

"That's nonsense," says Koetse. Director Zhang Dapeng has said he used nearly all nonprofessional actors for the trailer, which was filmed in two days in a Hebei province village. The locals wore their own clothes. The story was set in their own homes.

"So it couldn't be much closer to the truth," Koetse says.

That realism is part of why Chinese audiences loved the trailer — and extends to how the mini-drama hits hot-button social issues.

"There is a gap, and it's not just an urban-rural gap but also a gap between young people and older people, in a time where the digitalization of China is going so, so fast," Koetse says. "And especially the older people, and especially those in rural areas, are quick to be left behind if they don't catch up with the latest technology."

But perhaps the trailer's greatest strength is the pull of nostalgia — and of family. In China, grandparents traditionally play a prominent role in raising their grandchildren.

"Now with the rapid urbanization of China, you see that this is not always possible anymore," says Koetse, as younger generations leave for the cities — and more opportunities — leaving their elders behind.

To Koetse, another part of the genius of "What Is Peppa?" is how it takes the idea of quintessentially British Peppa and wraps her up in Chinese traditions and values about familial bonds.

"Peppa has never been this Chinese before," Koetse says.
continued next post

[GeneChing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-xmBLmaxyU
Peppa fever extends even to China's People's Liberation Army, as soldiers in Hong Kong assume a pig formation.
YouTube

It's not been all muddy puddles and spaghetti for Peppa. (Those are two of her favorite things.) She made headlines, and not in a good way, when she was co-opted by the Chinese youth subculture known as shehuiren -- which literally means "society person" but actually refers to anti-authority slackers.

Koetse explains that this subculture took Peppa as their symbol — and in memes and unauthorized videos, depicted her smoking cigarettes, wearing sunglasses, "making her into something different" and, in the eyes of Chinese authorities, undesirable. As a result, some 30,000 unofficial videos of Peppa were removed from Douyin, a popular short-video platform in China, last year.

But that hasn't stopped the #WhatIsPeppa juggernaut. Social media users opined that it made them homesick and want to treat their grandparents better.

Some pig, indeed.

Wanyu Zhang contributed reporting to this story.

Peppa Pig (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71200-Peppa-Pig) gets its own thread, independent of our Year of the Pig (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019) thread.

[GeneChing]

Alibaba’s Peppa Pig movie doesn’t have much Peppa Pig in it (https://www.abacusnews.com/reviewed/alibabas-peppa-pig-movie-doesnt-have-much-peppa-pig-it/article/3000783)

Peppa Celebrates Chinese New Year is a live-action film with a lot of stereotypes

The new Peppa Pig movie is 81 minutes long. And Peppa is only in it for around 30 minutes.

That’s not even the weirdest thing about Alibaba’s new Peppa Pig movie, which isn’t a cartoon. it’s a live-action movie about a Chinese family coming together for Lunar New Year… except it’s got short Peppa Pig episodes sprinkled through the story.

(Abacus is a unit of the South China Morning Post, which is owned by Alibaba.)

It’s not a great combination. I struggled to stay awake, but children in the cinema visibly lost their minds when the cartoon family of pink swines appeared.

https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/1320w/public/d8/images/2019/02/12/1c7152e9-7a70-4911-885e-6148d27aeded-peppa_pig_photo.jpg?itok=-7XXQNRu
Peppa Celebrates Lunar New Year is being shown in select theatres in the US. (Picture: Alibaba Pictures)

It’s not like the short Peppa Pig “episodes” are woven in artfully, either. They’re effectively standalone shorts that share a vague theme of celebration, with the movie starting with an episode of Peppa’s family going to a festival, and ending with Peppa’s family celebrating the Lunar New Year.

For instance, in the festival episode, there is a part where Peppa, George and their father had fun getting muddy after their camping site got rained on. However, that part has nothing to do with, say, the last short where Peppa learns the various traditions of Chinese New Year.

(But... while that bit looks to me like a bunch of dumb pig-and-mud jokes, children in the cinema loved it. Kids at the age of 4 and 5 told me after the show that the part where the Peppa family jumped into puddles and made mud castles was their absolute favorite. Clearly, our sensibilities are a little different.)

What about the rest of the movie? Well, the live-action part irritates me tremendously because it, in an attempt to portray various Chinese festive traditions, features a lot of regional stereotypes. The film shows northerners as loud and rambunctious and southerners as soft-spoken pushovers.

More specifically, in the movie, the family consists of two children, a wife from the south and a husband from the north. On New Year’s Eve, grandparents from both sides of the family came together. And from that point, the movie devolves into grandparents sizing one another up with their respective Lunar New Year traditions.

More than half the film is spent building up quasi-tensions between the two grandmas: Northern grandma is a micromanager and a diva who’s continually flaunting her skills, while the one from the south is a self-pitying, passive-aggressive sucker who constantly murmurs to herself, “I don’t understand these northerners...”

How does Peppa fit into this story? Because the two compete for their grandchildren’s love by telling them Peppa Pig stories. They also treat the Peppa Pig storybook almost as if it’s the Bible: At one point, one of the grandmothers demonstrates her deep knowledge by literally shouting, “Yeah, I know that story. It’s from Book 1 Chapter 18!”

(This tension was somehow finally reconciled at the end after the grandma from the south just succumbs to the other grandma’s bullying. 🤷🏻*♂️)

The kids at my cinema loved it, but the parents I spoke to were disappointed. And it’s getting bad scores online in China, presumably from parents. In response, the director hasn’t said much -- except to share a post on Weibo that says, “Whoever gave the score of 1 is cattle.”

​Peppa Celebrates Chinese New Year feels like a holiday cash grab, a poor movie with insulting stereotypes and precious little actual Peppa Pig. But while I was watching (and hating) the film, it was hard not to notice all the many rows of children around me, all of whom seemed to enjoy it. So what do I know?

If Abacus is a unit of the South China Morning Post, which is owned by Alibaba, I'm surprised it would diss its own product so heavily.

[GeneChing]

I wonder how this affects Mandarin.

My kid picked up a Brit accent from Harry Potter (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?37539-Harry-Potter), but it was affected.


Kids Are Speaking with British Accents from Watching Too Much Peppa Pig (https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/kids-speaking-british-accents-watching-151100459.html?fbclid=IwAR2KAzsNfaHASSDNnt_rew4zRR NCstU-i5AmYPB3aRyqemtSgVmnaRZPvPE)
People
Jen Juneau
February 14, 2019

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/eMnEH1cHHmpCJy1cY0N4dw--~A/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9MTI4MDtoPTk2MA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/homerun/people_218/ffcb6b73ef234a5f3336e70f4a902b35

If your toddler suddenly starts sounding like they’ve spent a year or two in England, there’s a chance it might be because of what they’re watching on TV.

Parents all over social media have begun bonding over what they’re describing as the “#PeppaEffect:” the phenomenon of non-British children developing an accent after watching perhaps a bit too much Peppa Pig.

“I just read an article about American parents saying that their children are developing a British accent because they’re watching Peppa Pig. I just have to say that it’s true. J still has her accent sometimes with certain words & I honestly love it. Lol,” one Twitter user wrote on Wednesday.

“It’s so true this #PeppaEffect,” another admitted. “I have [been] trying to teach my daughter hindi. She is 4yrs old. But she still is not able to make sentences in hindi but can speak English very well in British accent.”

Want all the latest pregnancy and birth announcements, plus celebrity mom blogs? Click here to get those and more in the PEOPLE Parents newsletter.


Chantae
@xo_chantae
I just read an article about American Parents saying that their children are developing a British accent because they’re watching Peppa Pig. I just have to say that it’s true. J still has her accent sometimes with certain words & I honestly love it. Lol. #PeppaEffect

8
2:24 PM - Feb 13, 2019
Twitter Ads info and privacy
See Chantae's other Tweets


neha srivastava
@neha_bani
It's so true this #PeppaEffect
I have trying to teach my daughter hindi. She is 4yrs old.
But she still is not able to make sentences in hindi but can speak English very well in British accent.

5
8:29 PM - Feb 13, 2019
Twitter Ads info and privacy
See neha srivastava's other Tweets


All4God
@all4truelove90
Omg thought I was going crazy when my 3yrs talk sometimes, hers ain't bad but u can hear d accent a lil #PeppaEffect

1
7:05 PM - Feb 13, 2019 · Houston, TX
Twitter Ads info and privacy
See All4God's other Tweets

In a conversation with Romper, Dartmouth College language program director of the department of Spanish and Portuguese, Roberto Rey Agudo, said “exposure” has everything to do with the inflections parents are hearing in their children’s dialect.

Agudo says the upswing in reports of accent mimicry are “in part because Peppa Pig has been such a phenomenon with the 2- to 5-year-old crowd and it’s considered cute, whereas I don’t know what other shows have that kind of currency right now.”

Romper also spoke with Dr. Emma Byrne — author of Swearing is Good for You: The Amazing Science of Bad Language — who pointed out that kids could be picking up on the positive parent attention surrounding the accent, which makes them want to keep using it.

“If you imagine being somewhere between the ages of 2 and 5, you don’t have much power in this world, beyond those tantrums of going all floppy, but as soon as you find a word or a sound in this case to consistently get your parents’ attention, it’s an amazing thing,” she said of the accent.

Even celebrity kids aren’t immune from the #PeppaEffect.

In October 2017, Savannah Guthrie told PEOPLE that her then-3-year-old daughter Vale had picked up the interesting verbal habit from her time watching Peppa Pig.

“For [son Charles “Charley” Max, now 2], we coordinate time of departure around his nap, and Vale watches Peppa Pig on repeat,” explained the Today show co-host of her road-trip strategy. “Of course she speaks with an English accent now.”

[GeneChing]

Peppa Pig (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71200-Peppa-Pig) won't fall victim to Chinese knock-offs (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57980-Chinese-Counterfeits-Fakes-amp-Knock-Offs)? I suspect I could still find some in China...or maybe at the Dollar Store. ;)


Peppa Pig safe as Chinese courts crack down on counterfeits (https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/peppa-pig-safe-as-chinese-courts-crack-down-on-counterfeits-20190312-p513me.html)
By Kirsty Needham
March 12, 2019 — 5.28pm

Beijing: Chinese courts have seen a 42 per cent surge in intellectual property rights cases, as the Chinese government seeks to show it is heeding foreign business complaints about intellectual property theft.

The president of the Supreme People’s Court, Zhou Qiang, on Tuesday highlighted the success of a foreign company in defending the copyright of Peppa Pig through a new online court system.

https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_1.104%2C$multiply_1%2C$ratio_1.776846%2C$wid th_1059%2C$x_0%2C$y_0/t_crop_custom/w_800/q_86%2Cf_auto/3bfce661396aa54e0392b7f4bf860a970e4c742e
Peppa Pig has become an unlikely symbol for rebelliousness in China. Here's a non-copyright Peppa Pig tatoo on social media, Weibo.CREDIT:WEIBO

The Hangzhou Internet Court last year found in favour of two British companies who complained about a Peppa Pig copyright infringement by a Chinese toy company. The company was ordered to pay 150,000 Chinese yuan ($31,000) in compensation and stop selling the fake toys online.

Intellectual property theft by Chinese companies has been a sore point in trade war negotiations with the United States. China is seeking to strike a deal with the Trump Administration to end punitive tariffs on Chinese goods.'

Zhou said in the Supreme Court’s work report to the National People’s Congress on Tuesday that 15,000 foreign-related civil and commercial cases had been resolved through Chinese courts in 2018.

A total of 288,000 intellectual property right trials were conducted in all courts.

https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_0.492%2C$multiply_1%2C$ratio_1.776846%2C$wid th_1059%2C$x_838%2C$y_398/t_crop_custom/w_800/q_86%2Cf_auto/3430b2f7df70ab43afc039c517491cd9e9f06ffd
China's Chief Justice Zhou Qiang delivers a report on the country's legal system.CREDIT:AP

In a legal boost to intellectual property rights protection, a new Intellectual Property Rights court was established in the Supreme Court to deal with “technically strong intellectual property right appeals such as patents,” and to unify standards of judgement. Another 19 IPR courts were built.

The report said 8325 people were criminally prosecuted for infringing patent rights and trademark rights, an increase of 16.3 per cent, the report said.

The head of China’s State Administration for Market Regulation, Zhang Mao, said on Monday at the congress that counterfeiting would be “cracked down on severely”.

”We need to significantly increase the cost of such acts to make the violators go bankrupt, and to publicly reveal their identities so there is no place to hide,” Zhang said.

Chinese state media reported that historically penalties for intellectual property rights infringement had been low. Shen Changyu, head of the National Intellectual Property Administration said a new government measure would stipulate compensation that is five-times higher for intentional copyright infringement.

Chinese courts are regarded as having high conviction rates. The Supreme Court’s annual work report showed it had overturned 10 “major wrongful convictions” in 2018, and acquitted 517 defendants in public prosecution cases and 302 defendants in private prosecution cases.

Around 1000 court staff were investigated for abusing power.

Meanwhile, cases involving the violation of personal information grew by 68 per cent.


Kirsty Needham is China Correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

[GeneChing]

I'm launching a 70th anniversary of People’s Republic thread (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71411-70th-anniversary-of-People%92s-Republic) now. I feel it'll be newsworthy.


Watch out Peppa Pig: Chinese censors on cartoon alert ahead of 70th anniversary of People’s Republic (https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3020846/watch-out-peppa-pig-chinese-censors-cartoon-alert-ahead-70th)
Animation and documentary content must be vetted to ensure it supports president’s leadership
Josephine Ma
Published: 6:00am, 1 Aug, 2019

https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/1200x800/public/d8/images/methode/2019/07/31/f90b6b0c-b38a-11e9-8f9c-a6398a9f90a9_image_hires_220305.jpg?itok=r20-b54p&v=1564581790
Cartoons on Chinese television must toe the Communist Party line as the country prepares to mark the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic. Photo: Sohu

Cartoons have become the latest front in China’s media censorship campaign in preparation for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic.
In a meeting with top censors last week, Nie Chenxi, deputy director of the Communist Party’s Propaganda Department and head of the National Radio and Television Administration, said they had to stay alert “every second” to make sure content in cartoons and documentaries supported the leadership of President Xi Jinping, state media reported on Wednesday.
“[Censors] have to stand on high political ground to vet every television episode, every documentary and every cartoon to make sure every word carries weight, every second [of the footage] carries a political message. They have to treat every day as a test,” state media quoted Nie as saying.
The orders come as the party tries to ensure all forms of media toe the line in preparation for the 70th anniversary on October 1, the most important political event of the year.
Events promoting national identity and loyalty to the party are expected to be held around the country for the anniversary.
Chinese censorship is stifling country’s film industry
Meanwhile on Sunday, police announced they detained Zhang Dongning, a 22-year-old cartoonist in the southeastern province of Anhui, in May for insulting the people with her satirical cartoons depicting Chinese with pig’s heads.
The police accused Zhang of being a jingri, a term to describe people who identify more as Japanese than Chinese.
They said Zhang’s cartoons “severely hurt the feelings of Chinese and trampled on national dignity”. Another person in Dalian, Liaoning province, was also arrested for allegedly colluding with Zhang, the police said.

https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/methode/2019/07/31/072b1c06-b38a-11e9-8f9c-a6398a9f90a9_972x_220305.jpg
Many internet users said they did not find Zhang Dongning’s work intentionally insulting. Photo: Weibo

Zhang’s arrest triggered debate online, with many internet users saying they did not find her work intentionally insulting.
Also on Sunday, police in other parts of the country also announced the arrest of eight other jingri, though they were not all artists.
In early July, Nie told censors to make sure China could produce high-quality TV dramas to serve the agenda of the country and the party, and to celebrate the republic’s 70th national anniversary.

THREADS
Censored Chinese Films (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71359-Censored-Chinese-Films)
Peppa Pig (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71200-Peppa-Pig)

[GeneChing]

Hasbro Thinks "Peppa Pig" Is Worth as Much as "Star Wars" (https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/08/29/hasbro-thinks-peppa-pig-is-worth-as-much-as-star-w.aspx)
And it might be right.
Rich Duprey
(TMFCop)
Aug 29, 2019 at 2:23PM

Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) is bringing home the bacon, announcing it is acquiring Peppa Pig owner Entertainment One (OTC:ENTMF) for $4 billion in cash. It may seem as if the toy company is using Monopoly money, because that's the same price Disney (NYSE: DIS) paid for Stars Wars' Lucasfilm Studios.

While the porcine stars of the animated series are indeed a global phenomena, are they actually worth as much as arguably the most lucrative franchise in history? Lucasfilm was purchased almost seven years ago, and the inflation-adjusted domestic box office receipts of all the Star Wars movies is $7.5 billion. That figure doesn't include foreign box office receipts, DVD sales and rentals, the animated TV series, books, and perhaps the biggest revenue generator -- toys and other merchandise.

Data compiled by Statista shows nearly a quarter of all U.S. consumers own at least some Star Wars memorabilia and more than a fifth own Stars Wars action figures. Peppa Pig might be ascendant on the global popularity stage, but does it approach the depth and breadth of the Star Wars empire?

Maybe not just yet, but Hasbro also hasn't trained the Death Star on its finances by making the purchase. Peppa Pig is turning into a cash cow of its own, and the price paid could turn out to be a bargain.

https://g.foolcdn.com/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fg.foolcdn.com%2Feditorial%2Fima ges%2F537741%2Fpeppa-pig-hasbro-source-eone.jpg&w=700&op=resize
IMAGE SOURCE: ENTERTAINMENT ONE.

Not a pig in a poke

Peppa Pig may be Entertainment One's (eOne's) biggest property, but the company is also home to some other popular family brands, like PJ Masks, a series about three kids who become superheroes at night. Along with Peppa Pig, PJ Masks helped generate some $2.5 billion in revenue for the U.K.based eOne last year. It also has an embarrassment of other riches in its repertory.

eOne is a growing entertainment powerhouse with fingers in television, movies, music, and even technology. Among its properties is Ricky Zoom, a CGI-animated series about a red motorcycle; it was recently picked up by Nickelodeon. It's produced dozens of movies including Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and the just-released Official Secrets with Keira Knightley, while distributing hits such as the The Hunger Games.

It has also produced dozens of TV shows including Hell on Wheels and The Rookie, while it owns the international distribution rights to monster TV hits like The Walking Dead and more. Among its musical artists are innumerable acts that it has helped produce, including Snoop Dogg, Wu Tang Clan, and Purity Ring.

There's even a technology hub called Secret Location that has developed VUSR, a visual reality platform that lets creators distribute and monetize 360-degree video to any head-mounted display.

A profitable play out of the gate

eOne is not a one-trick pony, and Hasbro's purchase could pay big dividends for years to come. It gives the toy maker access to a number of popular, growing brands that it will be able to work its own magic on in terms of merchandising and expanding into new markets, as well as a massive content library of 80,000 hours of movies and TV shows and about 40,000 music tracks, last valued at $2 billion.

It also gives Hasbro's own properties entrance into verticals it didn't necessarily have available beforehand, at least not on its own. Now Hasbro can be a completely self-contained multimedia behemoth.

The company expects to achieve "synergies" worth $130 million by 2022, but also anticipates the deal to be immediately accretive to earnings and begin growing in year two as it dramatically expands the toy maker's reach in the infant and pre-school category and expands its TV and film capabilities.

Peppa Pig might not be on the same scale as Star Wars, but it's only been around for 15 years and is still growing. The character has been viewed tens of billions of times across various platforms in China since launching there in 2015, and there are plans for a Peppa Pig theme park in Shanghai (take that, Galaxy's Edge).

Although it may seem shocking that Hasbro valued this property as much as Disney thought Star Wars was worth -- and Marvel Entertainment, too, for that matter -- the breadth of possibilities the acquisition unlocks makes it worth every penny.

Rich Duprey has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Hasbro and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool is short shares of Hasbro and has the following options: long January 2021 $60 calls on Walt Disney and short October 2019 $125 calls on Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

https://media.giphy.com/media/Xjo8pbrphfVuw/giphy.gif

THREADS
Peppa Pig (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71200-Peppa-Pig)
Star Wars rumor control (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?36548-Star-Wars-rumor-control)